Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1887-04-14
Faro ON a Sailing ship.

Fare on o. Sailing snip.
Perhaps some of the Young ad-
! mirers of a Lille on the ocean wave"
would like to know how they fare
aboard ship. There is no mothers
pantry to visit. Each sailor furnish
es his own tin plate, coffee cup and
knife and fork. He has no table, with
chairs placed for his convenience.
When grub" is readyto be served b
cook gives the signal. A sailor comes
and receives a pan OF bread; another
takes a pan of beef, the third takes
the large coffee pot, with hash or
potatoes as the cook chooses. The
bill OF fare is fixed by law. At the be-
ginning of the voyage the captain calls
his crew aft and inquiries if there are
! any who wish to have their food
weighed. They always prefer TO eat
as much as they can "stow away"
The sailors eat in the f~orecastle. II
they are disposed, they car rig them
selves q table; otherwise they must
sit around on trunks or the deck IN
rough weather and take their rations.
The officers eat with the captain in
the cabin, where a table is set and
furnished the same as at home. A
rack is used in rough weather to keep
the dishes from dancing. If there is a
good cook on board, everything goes
well; but an unskilled cook makes all
hands miserable.
During extremely cold weather pas
sengers do not attempt TO sit at the
table, but take whatever they require
In their hands and eat the best way
they an. One day a sailor was eat
ing his rations during rough weather,
when the ship gave a sudden
lurch and a piece of beef went gallon.
ing across the deck. The sailor raised
his fork, and making a dash for the
| beef, shouted: "Stop thathorse!" The
sailors call their beef salt horse"
The story which they tell is this: One
voyage, when the beef was particular
| ly tough,a horseshoe was found at the
bottom OF the beef barrel, whereupon
one of the sailors got up the following
rhyme:
s'old horse, old horse, what brought you
here?"
"From Saccarap to Portland pier,
/ was dragging lumber for many "a year,
/ was kicked and cuifed with sore abuse
And sailed down for sailors use;
Between the mainmast and the pumps
/ was sailed down in great big chunks;
They hauled me out and picked my bones,
They hove me over to Davy Jones"
The captain of a sailing ship was
asked by his wife if she couldn't give
the sailors a good dinner. He replied
that he was afraid it would make
them saucy. She finally prevailed. A
fine turkey was procured from shore
and given to the cook, who served it
up in good order and gave it to the
sailors. One gave a scrutiniZing look
and exclaimed: "What is that old
bird doing here?" Another said: al
wonder how old it is? Must have
died of old age" The third remarked
that if it had been good for anything
they would have kept it in the cabin.
They finally hove it overheard and
made a dinner of salt horse" The
captains wife, after that, eve med
died with her husbands housekeeping.
Sometimes a dolphin is caught, and,
as you watch the dying colors of blue
and gold, as he writhes upon thedeck,
visions OF savory chowder and fresh
fried fish pass before you.
With what an important air the
cook comes into the cabin and asks
fora piece of silver. which he puts into
the frying pan with the sputtering fish.
II the silver turns black he considers
the fish to have been poisoned. He
| says they sometimes eat the copper
from the bottom of a ship OF from
copper banks. How anxiously we
await the test, those on shore, whose
thoughts are filled with politics, the
temperance question and divorce
cases can neve know. The
silver is usually found to be
bright and shining, and the luxury OF a
fresh fish dinner is enjoyed with I'M
adulterated happiness. Often a por-
poise is harpooned and then there is
great excitement. The liver and heart
tastes similar to those of a hog, but
one must be exceedingly hungry to en-
Joy the meat. 1t has one virtue, that
| OF being fresh. The oil is usually saved.
being quite valuable. That found in
the head is much esteemed for oiling
clocks, etc. When a Spanish macker-
al is caught a savory dinner may be
expected.
Sometimes thousands of flying fish
dart from the water on all sides of the
ship, and spreading their gauze wings,
fly for a few seconds above water,
while we are tempted to exclaim:
Fish, fish all around,
And not one mouthful to eat
For, although they are most delicate
eating, it is impossible to catch them
at sea. Often during the night one
flies on board, and the cook erves it
up for the most favored person on
board. On the island of Barbados
the fishermen are very successful in
catching these fish, and ameal of bon
ed flying fish is worth eating.
During severe storms the cook has
many trials trying to serve his meals.
In carrying the dinner from the galley
to the cabin he is sometimes struck by
a heavy sea, and the basket washed
from his grasp, the dinner and dishes
wrecked. On one oc~casionthe cook OF
a bark was struck by a sea and wash.
ed overheard. dinner, basket and all.
1t was beyond the power of his ship.
| mates To save him -Woreester Spv